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Featuring everything new and experienced authors need to develop creative and technical skills. Check out writing development articles, our Word of the Day, writing prompts, anthology opportunities and more!

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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: "write What You Know" Doesn't Mean Show Off

For those that celebrated it, I hope everyone had a great Christmas yesterday. And for those that don't celebrate it, I hope you still got a good haul.   Now on to Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, Post-Festivus winter sales, and the ever important Pre-New Year's Eve creative writing exercises ("This year, I *WILL* stop gagging everytime I see the neighbor's newborn", "This year, I promise to exercise... starting next week - or, by the end of the month... well, maybe...").   And to help you with your wri
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #194 & #195

Well - since the world ended, no one is reading this, right? Heh - just in case, I guess I should let you know what this week's writing prompts are. I mean - maybe our Prompt-guru Comicfan knew something the Mayans didn't, because we have two new prompts from him.   So - if we're all here tomorrow, check out these prompts and give one (or both) a try. But when you do, please share with the rest of the community in our Writing Prompts forum - cause you wouldn't want bad karma because you decide
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: No Warm-Ups Required

A big "Thank You" to Libby Drew for this weeks Wednesday blog! No Warm-ups Required: Why Opening Matters   Warming up before you exercise makes good sense. You need to increase your body temperature. Stimulate blood flow to your ligaments. Mentally prepare yourself for what’s to come. Warming up for a workout is all about starting slow and building momentum.   Fiction is not exercise. Never start a story with a warm-up.   In other words, don’t open your masterpiece with an in depth
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #192 & #193

REMINDER - Today is the deadline for the Special Mayan Tribute Anthology "End of the World." If you have any issues posting/etc with the anthology, you can contact Cia, who is the temporary anthology coordinator.   So, after you finish posting your anthology story, come on back here to try out one of our new writing prompts, courtesy of Prompt-Guru Comicfan. Please share what you come up with in our Writing Prompts forum!   Prompt 192 –Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following words in
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: The Infinitive - To Split Or Not To Split

Happy 12/12/12 to everyone - and to celebrate, here is a writing tip piece by Andy021278 that we hope you find useful. Enjoy!       The Infinitive: To Split or Not to Split by Andy021278   We’ve all seen it. We’ve probably all hurled expletives over it. And more than one of us has probably fretted over it at some time or another. It’s that annoying grammar check in MS Word, and other similar word processing programs, which tells you that you’ve split an infinitive. Well
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #190 & #191

ANNOUNCEMENT - LAST MINUTE REMINDER!!! Entries for the "Desperate Ends" Winter anthology are due tomorrow - NO EXCEPTIONS! Remember that Cia has temporarily taken over anthologies so please let her know if you have any trouble posting your submissions.   Thanks to our Prompt-guru Comicfan, we bring you two great new prompts:   Prompt 190 – Creative Tag – The Note You came home to find a note that listed everything about you, including your last lover, and where you hide your toys. There isn’
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: The Writer's Yellow Brick Road

We're always grateful to our contributors, and especially to Libby Drew for this great article on traveling with Dorothy from a first to a second draft. Enjoy!       The Writer’s Yellow Brick Road: Journey from First to Second Draft by Libby Drew       First drafts are often wordy. We make them that way because at the divine moment we’re crafting a scene, adding words is the only way to get the details across. Soliloquies abound. Descriptions clutter. Characters chatt
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #188 & #189

So Friday means another prompt day. And - um, if you were here last week, prompt day can get to be a little ... wild. I do have to thank joann414, Mark92 and K.C. for giving me a serious set of belly laughs.   In addition to the above named trio, we have to always give thanks to our Prompt-guru Comicfan for two new fantastic prompts. I hope you try one (or both) but please share it with the community in our Writing Prompts Forum (though, you can also put it in the comments - but so that future
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #186 & #187

Good morning and happy trypophan-coma day! One way to fight your way out of the sleepyness is to engage your brain with a good, quick writing exercise, say ... OH - maybe write a response to one of our great weekly writing prompts, provided by our Prompt-guru Comicfan. But it is only fair, once you've helped yourself out of your funk, to share your response with the community in the Writing Prompt forum so others can engage their brains and marvel at what you pulled together!       Prompt 18
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Participial Phrases 101

Participial Phrases 101, Or The First Thing Your Editor Is Going To Yell At You About       By       Libby Drew   That’s not true, by the way. All editors are angels.   So… a participial phrase. What is it? According to grammaruntied.com, it’s a word group consisting of a present participle (also known as an -ing form) or past participle (also known as an -en form), plus any modifiers, objects, and complements.   If you find the English class gibberish definition c
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #184 & #185

Welcome to the end of the week and a chance to unwind and relax. Or - wait, before you do - maybe try your hand at a writing prompt? Thanks to the genius of our Prompt-guru Comicfan, we bring you two great new prompts. And one of them is a poetry writing prompt - and come on, you know that sometimes the best things happen when you get pushed outside your comfort zone, Whether it is the poetry prompt or the "Tag" prompt - please share what you come up with in our Writing Prompt forum!   Prompt
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #182 & #183

A rough week for some, good and bad news... but the best way to enter the weekend is to stir your creative muscles and just see where you can get your mind to go.   Our Weekly writing prompts, courtesy of our Prompt-Guru Comicfan, are two very interesting creative challenges. We hope you take a try at them and share them with the community in the Writing Prompt Forum.   Prompt 182 – Creative Tag – The Secret Your best friend has called you up in the middle of night and begged you to come rig
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Feedback

Here at the blog we've talked about leaving feedback for Authors. With that in mind, I asked Hosted Author: C James if he would be willing to write something up for the blog to tell everyone why he thinks feedback is important. I hope you enjoy what he had to say and keep it in mind the next time you read a story here at GA! Feedback: Why Authors Need You   Authors differ, but most need feedback. I mean ‘need’ quite literally.   It’s not an ego thing, it is a need. The reasons vary f
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #180 & #181

On the day of the dead, where the year too dies, must the youngest open the oldest stones...   So - did everyone have a great Día de los Muertos yesterday? Here at GA News Blog world, we received two great new prompts from our prompt-guru Comicfan that I hope you'll enjoy. Take a look and try them out - and please share what you come up with, with the community in our Writing Prompts forum!   Prompt 180 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following words in a story – ripped pants, Pilgrim
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Happy Nanowrimo!

It's November - so you know what that means! Yes, it's National Beard Month!   Well, ok, but it IS National Beard month too - as many of my co-workers annually remind me (I have never nor will never take that plunge but many of them do).   But it is also National Novel Writing Month, or as it is so more familiarly known, NaNoWriMo. Started just over thirteen years ago, if you've never heard about it, check out their website or the wiki page on them. - I'm still amazed at the rapid growth of
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #178 & #179

While it is great to read what some established writers do with these writing prompts, it is just so wonderful to see new authors, who haven't published any stories on GA.Stories yet, answer these writing prompts. These writing prompts are a great way to try your hand, see how you can do and get some great feedback. We're thankful to Comicfan for these prompts, and we hope you take a try and share what you write with the community in the Writing Prompt forum.   Prompt 178 – Creative Tag – List
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Writing Tips

Tip Thursday: Constructive Criticism

We love getting News blog articles and tips from members - and CassieQ has been a wonderful contributor. Here she writes her thoughts on Constructive Criticism - a very detailed article that shows a lot of thought. I hope you enjoy and let us know your thoughts as well! Also, if YOU have an article you think would be great for this blog, let Renee Stevens, Andy021278 or myself know. Thanks!       Constructive Criticism by CassieQ   I'll try to make this as painless as p
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #176 & #177

I recently read a great short story that originally started as a Prompt response. These prompts have helped generate some fantastic reads - and with this week's prompts, I'm looking forward to some more great responses. Try one (or both) of these prompts and please share them with the community in the Writing Prompts forum.   Prompt 176 – Creative Tag – The Mythical Your child has just told you they found something and want to keep it as a pet, but as they describe it to you, you smile thinkin
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Keeping It Legal

No - this has nothing to do with pharmaceuticals or jailbait - it is a much more serious tip on how to avoid legal issues when publishing your writings. We thank KingdombytheSea for this great and very timely tip, as more and more authors are looking to take the plunge into being published. Enjoy!       Keeping it Legal by KingdombytheSea   The Copyright Police do exist, and if you’re an author planning on publishing, it’s a good idea to keep that in mind.   When I wr
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #174 & #175

Thank G*d It's Friday! A chance to relax for most, a time to look forward to partying or time with family. For us, it is also a time to take a chance, for one last dance for romance... errr - I mean for writing.   Thanks to our Prompt-Guru Comicfan, we have two great new prompts this week, The Storm and The Job. I'd love to see how YOU might respond to either (or both) of these prompts. And then, please, share what you have with the Writing Prompt Community!   Prompt 174 – Creative Tag – The
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Using Description

First, Happy National Coming Out Day (NCOD)! First started in 1988, with the date picked as the anniversary of the 1987 March on Washington, the simple theme is to come out - to those you love, those you know, as people's opinions of LGBT persons and rights is better if they know someone who is LGBT.   Now on to our tip, generously contributed by CassieQ, on Using Descriptions in writings. Enjoy!   Using Description by CassieQ   I like to use description to help set a m
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #172 & #173

What better way to unwind after a long week, than to glance at a writing prompt and just let your mind and fingers go. Don't think - just type and see what you come up with.   Sound like fun? Well, thanks to these two prompts from Comicfan, it should be. And please, once you've come up with something, share it with the rest of the community in our Writing Prompts forum!   This week's prompts:   Prompt 172 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following words in a story – pillow, evergreen
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: The Mystery Story

The Mystery Story - Crafting a Tale of Suspense by Comicfan       The mystery is one of those things that just can’t be jumped into. You really need to plan out a mystery before pen hits the paper, or in most cases before fingers hit the keys. There is a lot that happens in a mystery and it is important for you follow some basic ideas before you embark on such task.   First up is the mystery itself. Did someone have something stolen? Was there a murder? Is it something tha
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #170 & #171

Prom-proma-proma-prompt me... I wanna feel dirty... Thrill me....   Errrm - I mean - welcome to Prompt Me Friday! Here we look at fantastic writing prompts provided by the Prompt-guru himself, Comicfan. This week's prompts are:   Prompt 170 –Challenge Tag – PoV Write a story from the point of view of an item that has been in your family for years. What story does this item have to tell? Is it great-grandma’s chine or grandpa’s watch? Maybe it is the ring your mother bought as a girl?   Pro
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Author Feedback

For today's toss-up, Renee Stevens gives some good thoughts and important questions on author feedback. We hope you enjoy...   Author Feedback by Renee Stevens   Today, as our Toss-Up Tuesday, we'd like to focus on reviews, both negative and positive. It's no secret that many author's on site thrive for feedback. For myself, I absolutely love to get reviews, I'm sure my eyes light up when I see that little notification that I have a review waiting for my perusal.   I don't mi
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